Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
American (Quarterfinal)
Women's Basketball Advances to PL Semifinals with 73-65 Win over American
3/7/2016 11:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The record win total keeps piling up, as does the record winning streak, but the most important part of Bucknell's 73-65 win over American on Monday night was that it put the Bison in the Patriot League semifinals for the first time since 2013. Freshman Kyi English scored a career-high 20 points and was joined in double-figures by Claire DeBoer, Tyler Craig and Jacquie Klotz to lead the Bison past the Eagles in the quarterfinal round at Sojka Pavilion.
Bucknell improved to 24-6 with its program record 10th straight win. The previous longest winning streak was nine games during the 2006-07 season. The second-seeded Bison will look to keep the streak going when they travel to West Point, New York, to take on third-seeded Loyola (Md.) in the semifinals of the conference tournament on Friday. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Christl Arena. The other semifinal matchup is at 5 p.m. and will feature host and top-seeded Army West Point against fourth-seeded Lehigh.
There were times during the regular season that fourth-year head coach Aaron Roussell probably would have liked to have seen his team win in more convincing fashion. The Bison started slow multiple times before erasing double-digit deficits on their way to wins that helped them finish 17-1 against conference opponents and clinch a share of the Patriot League regular season title. But those games may have been just the preparation the team needed to come back from 13 down in the first half on Monday.
“We've had to scratch and claw our way to some wins this year,” Roussell said. “We were down double-digits at Holy Cross. We were down 17 in the fourth quarter to Lehigh. Those are the games that we have talked about as a team that build character and build toughness.”
A layup by Michael Harris put American up 29-16 with 5:48 to play in the second quarter, but Bucknell didn't wait for a halftime speech to turn things around. Craig, a senior captain, looked like a player that wasn't ready to see her career end without a Patriot League title, leading the charge, starting a 17-6 run to end the half by scoring seven straight Bison points. The stretch began with a 3-point play on a jumper in the paint and was followed by a pair of tough driving layups. She would finish the game with 12 points and added four assists.
“American is a very good defensive team, and Megan is an outstanding coach,” Roussell said. “They made us work for our points early. Nothing came easy.”
Still trailing 35-28 with under a minute left in the half, Bucknell really shifted momentum with key buckets by DeBoer and English. DeBoer put in a layup with 33 seconds left, and English cut the deficit to 35-33 with a deep 3-pointer with two seconds remaining in the half.
Bucknell never trailed in the second half, but had to hold off multiple runs by American. The Eagles tied the game at 37-all early in the third quarter and were only down two, 52-50, heading to the fourth quarter.
The Bison opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run to go back up double-digits and hold off the upset-minded Eagles. English had four points during that stretch, while DeBoer and Klotz had two apiece.
DeBoer stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Klotz scored 11 points and led all players with eight rebounds. Sune Swart brought her usual energy off the bench to help key the comeback and finished with seven points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Freshman Cecily Carl paced American with a game-high 21 points. Maria Liddane finished with 12.
Bucknell improved to 3-0 against American in Patriot League Tournament matchups. The Bison's semifinal game against Loyola will be the first tournament matchup between the teams. The Greyhounds advanced past the quarterfinal round with a 44-42 win over Navy thanks to a jumper by Colleen Marshall with one second remaining on the clock.
The Bison finished 5-1 against the three remaining teams in the conference tournament. They swept the regular season series with both Loyola (Md.) and Lehigh, and split their two games with Army West Point.
